The Book of Life is
one of the most misunderstood concepts in
Scripture. The misunderstanding about the Book
of Life is due to the misunderstanding about the
difference between the spirit and the soul, and
the misunderstanding of the difference between
the Covenant of Grace and the Covenant of Works.
The misunderstanding about Grace and Works is
due to the failure of the great majority of
Christians to rightly divide the Word of Truth,
which is the Bible. Bible prophecy confirms that
the leaven of false doctrine would permeate the
Church at the end of the Church Age. That
prophecy has been fulfilled. One truth of
Scripture is generally understood correctly by
both the end-time Sardis (i.e., Protestant)
church and the end-time Laodicean (i.e.,
Pentecostal and Charismatic) church. That truth
is that all the names of believers were written
in the Lamb’s Book of Life from the foundation
of the world in accordance with the following
Scriptures:(Rev 13:8 KJV) And all that dwell
upon the earth shall worship him, whose names
are not written in the book of life of the
Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.(Rev 17:8 KJV) The beast that
thou sawest was, and is not; and shall ascend
out of the bottomless pit, and go into
perdition: and they that dwell on the earth
shall wonder, whose names were not written in
the book of life from the foundation of the
world, when they behold the beast that was,
and is not, and yet is.It is widely
understood—CORRECTLY— that all believers were
elected before the foundation of the world, and
they had their names written in the Lamb’s Book
of Life at that time. However, it is NOT
generally understood that the Book of Life
pertains to the Covenant of Works and soul
salvation—NOT SPIRIT SALVATION. A Christian can
have his name blotted out of the Book of Life,
if he is not an overcomer in his Christian life.
This is NOT the loss of spirit salvation, but
the loss of soul salvation at the Judgment Seat
of Christ. The potential for having one’s name
blotted out of the Book of Life is confirmed in
the following Scripture:(Rev 3:5 KJV) He that
overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white
raiment; and I will not blot out
his name out of the book of life, but
I will confess his name before my Father, and
before his angels.This Scripture
confirms that overcoming Christians will NOT
have their names blotted out of the Book of
Life. It also confirms that Christians who are
NOT overcomers WILL have their names blotted out
of the Book of Life.The following
Scripture confirms that the Book of Life is
linked to the works of the Christian. There are
three words in this brief Scripture linking
works to the Book of Life:(Phil 4:3 KJV) And I entreat thee
also, true yokefellow, help those women which
laboured
with me in the gospel, with Clement
also, and with other my fellowlabourers, whose
names are in the book of life.The following
passage of Scripture relates the JUDGMENT OF THE
WORKS of the unsaved spiritually dead. THE ISSUE
IS WORKS. Of course, the names of these people
are NOT FOUND WRITTEN in the Book of Life,
because they were not written there from the
foundation of the world. The issue for both
believers at the Judgment Seat of Christ and the
spiritually dead at the Great White Throne
Judgment is WORKS. The Book of Life is related
to WORKS, which is confirmed in the following
Scripture:(Rev 20:12-15 KJV) And I saw the
dead, small and great, stand before God; and
the books were opened: and another book was
opened, which is the book of life: and the
dead were judged out of those things which
were written in the books, according to their
works. {13} And the sea gave up the dead which
were in it; and death and hell delivered up
the dead which were in them: and they were
judged every man according to their works.
{14} And death and hell were cast into the
lake of fire. This is the second death. {15}
And whosoever was not found written in the
book of life was cast into the lake of fire.We have seen so
far that every believer has his name written in
the Book of Life from the foundation of the
world. We have also seen that if the believer is
not an overcomer, then his name is blotted out
of the Book of Life. We have also seen that this
is the loss of soul salvation at the Judgment
Seat of Christ, and NOT THE LOSS OF SPIRIT
SALVATION, which is eternally secure. Spirit
salvation and the destination of heaven are
based on the work of Christ. Soul salvation and
the realization of the inheritance in the
kingdom of heaven are based on the works of
Christians. The Scriptures confirm this numerous
times.It should not
be difficult to understand that the loss of
the Crown of Life is directly related to
having one’s name blotted out of the Book of
Life. It is also directly related to the loss
of Eternal Life at the Judgment Seat of
Christ. There is a pattern here that should be
fairly easy to comprehend. The fact that a
believer can lose his Crown of Life and the
fact that the Crown of Life is related to
faithfulness is confirmed in the following
Scriptures:(James 1:12 KJV) Blessed is the
man that endureth temptation: for when he is
tried, he shall receive the crown of life,
which the Lord hath promised to them that love
him.(Rev 2:10 KJV) Fear none of those
things which thou shalt suffer: behold, the
devil shall cast some of you into prison, that
ye may be tried; and ye shall have tribulation
ten days: be thou faithful unto death, and I will
give thee a crown of life.The following
Scripture confirms that the crown of life can be
taken from a believer:Rev 3:11 KJV) Behold, I come
quickly: hold that fast which thou hast, that
no man take thy crown. (Ref. Rev. 2:10)Summary of
Biblical Truths: The names of all believers were
written in the Book of Life before the
foundation of the world. The Book of Life
pertains to the life that a believer lives. A
believer’s name can be blotted out of the Book
of Life, if he is not an overcomer. Having one’s
name blotted out of the Book of Life means the
loss of the Crown of Life, and the loss of soul
salvation at the Judgment Seat of Christ. The
loss of soul salvation at the Judgment Seat of
Christ means the loss of Eternal Life, which
pertains to glory, honor and immortality in the
coming Kingdom Age:Romans 2:4 Or despisest thou the riches
of his goodness and forbearance and
longsuffering, not knowing that the goodness
of God leadeth thee to repentance?Romans 2:5 but after thy hardness and
impenitent heart treasurest up for thyself
wrath in the day of wrath and revelation of
the righteous judgment of God;Romans 2:6 who will render to every man
according to his works:Romans 2:7 to them that by patience in
well-doing seek for glory and honor and
incorruption, eternal life:Romans 2:8 but unto them that are
factious, and obey not the truth, but obey
unrighteousness, [shall be] wrath and
indignation, (ASV 1901)The unfaithful
Christian still goes to heaven. He is still in
the Church, and he is still conformed to the
image of Christ. However, he does lose his
inheritance in the kingdom of heaven, which
means the failure to reign and rule with Christ
in the coming millennial kingdom. The loss of
the Crown of Life and Eternal Life results in
the blotting out of one’s name in the Book of
Life. This means the Christian has been found
unfaithful at the Judgment Seat of Christ, and
he LOSES HIS REWARD. His LIFE perishes.THE BOOK OF
LIFE, THE CROWN OF LIFE AND ETERNAL LIFE ALL
PERTAIN TO THE COVENANT OF WORKS, AND NOT THE
COVENANT OF GRACE.The Crown of
Life is based on faithfulness.